Long Car Ride- How to Keep Food COLD?

[My2CrazyGirls]

Hi! We have a 15 hour drive to Orlando and we want to pack some cold items from home. Mainly fresh fruits and veggies (strawberries, grapes, carrots, peppers), some hardboiled eggs, and half n half. We have a medium sized soft cooler from Costco but it doesn't really keep things cold enough and 15 hours is a long time. Any recommendations on a cooler and also on what you use inside (ice in bags, some type of icepack things etc.) to keep things cold?

This is not for snacking on the trip, the stuff all needs to be cold 15 hours later when we arrive at resort.

Thanks in advance

 

[Upatnoon]

Hi! We have a 15 hour drive to Orlando and we want to pack some cold items from home. Mainly fresh fruits and veggies (strawberries, grapes, carrots, peppers), some hardboiled eggs, and half n half. We have a medium sized soft cooler from Costco but it doesn't really keep things cold enough and 15 hours is a long time. Any recommendations on a cooler and also on what you use inside (ice in bags, some type of icepack things etc.) to keep things cold?

This is not for snacking on the trip, the stuff all needs to be cold 15 hours later when we arrive at resort.

Thanks in advance

Buy a larger hard-sided cooler, or just go to Costco in Orlando. There are plenty of other grocery stores as well, such as Publix and Aldi.

 

[bankr63]

As regular campers we have a variety of coolers we use. Any regular hard sider with 1" thick walls will easily do for 15 hours. Ice packs work fine, but an ice block will last much longer. The downside of block ice is that it melts and collects in the bottom, so everything gets wet. We have one of the Coleman Extreme coolers (about 2" walls) that we use for perishables like meat when camping that will generally keep things cold for 4-5 days in the summer before needing to add more ice. An excellent cooler.

Depending on how big you go, look for one with wheels. Makes moving things around much easier with a large heavy cooler.

Our drive is 24 hours, and we have no problems with a regular cooler and two large ice packs, although we will put things in our hotel fridge if we have one for the one night we stop over.

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

Our drive is 24 hours, and we have no problems with a regular cooler and two large ice packs, although we will put things in our hotel fridge if we have one for the one night we stop over.

Thank you

What type of ice packs do you use? We have small ones that don't stay frozen long so we need to get some.

 

[bankr63]

I like the Blue Ice ones if you can find them. We use all kinds, but the Blue Ice ones I have have never leaked and are some of my oldest packs. In general these things are pretty cheap though, so with any brand if I get a year out of them, I'm fairly happy. About 8*8*3/4" (estimated) is a good size for larger coolers. Put them on top of the food so the cold flows down, but be careful if you have any fresh veggies as they can freeze if in direct contact.

 

[chicagoshannon]

I saw a cooler AT Walmart the other day. Said it will keep things cold for over 48 hours. I almost bought it but it was about $40. I think it was a Coleman. It was in the camping section.

On our trip down in Feb. we used a small soft sided cooler with a lot of blue ice. Things stayed cold from 5am to 8pm when we stopped for the night. We then put the stuff in the fridge in the hotel and filled the cooler with ice from the hotel for the last 5 hours of the drive. It worked well.

 

[glassslippergirl]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to buy the items in Orlando than to buy a cooler and ice packs to transport? Do you have other plans for the cooler?

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to buy the items in Orlando than to buy a cooler and ice packs to transport? Do you have other plans for the cooler?

After a 15 hour drive we are not food shopping. We are headed to bed to be ready for our first park day. Arrival late on Friday night and will switch resorts on Wednesday....can go shopping then for the final 4 nights of our trip. Must have some breakfast items, cream for coffee, and fresh fruit/veggies on hand.

I think we have a large hard sided cooler buried in the shed we never use because it is too big. We have a soft sided one that won't be good enough for 15 hours that we take to the pool and stuff like that. So really looking for something medium sized, hard sided, that will do the job. I am sure we will use it on many trips and $50 or so is worth it for convenience.

 

[Klayfish]

Our drive is only 8 hours, but we've had situations where it had to stay cold for well over 24 hours. Our summer 2015 trip, we had originally planned to arrive on a Friday night. Last minute, we decided to leave Thursday night instead. The rental house we had wasn't available, so we had to stay in a hotel that night, no fridge access. We bought a hard sided Igloo cooler from Wal-Mart. It was something like $25. Put the things that HAD to be cold in it. Bought a $2 bag of ice, one of those big 15 or 20lb bags. Dumped it in the cooler along with the food, and there was still ice in it when we got to our condo 36 hours later.

Keep in mind that as long as they aren't already over ripe, fruits and veggies can live in room temps (or even warm ones) for a day or two with no problems. Obviously half and half and things like that must be cold.

 

[KristinU]

We have a Coleman thermoelectric cooler that is great for long drives, not cheap but you may find one on Craigslist. Aside from the hard boiled eggs and creamer, though, I think you wouldn't need uber refrigeration...how about no eggs and a different protein source paired with shelf-stable creamer to carry you through your first few days?

 

[BigredNole]

You are driving already, I would just get groceries when you get near Disney. If you are talking just about the car ride itself, a hard sided cooler will do better. People swear by the Yeti, Rtic, and other type coolers. Yes, they work but weigh a ton and cost a fortune. The WallyWorld one is just as good because it comes out of the same factory in China. But any hard sided cooler will be fine for 15 hours. Just drain the water out when you make a stop.

 

[elaine amj]

As long as you don't open your cooler, can't see any problems with any cooler (even the cheap ones) staying cold for that length of time. I can even stretch my softsided cooler that long if I pack it well. Trick is not to open it - keep it closed and out of direct sunlight.

My fave ice packs are frozen water bottles. They stay frozen for a long time, no worries about leaking (like what happened with my frozen ziploc bags) and can be used as drinking water after they are melted. I freeze mine for at least 2-3 days in my chest freezer before the trip. Plus, I pretty much never have to drain water out of my cooler. AND they keep things really cold. I put a layer of frozen bottles at the bottom and a layer of frozen bottles at the top. I have to be careful, as often it will freeze my food (eg stuff like shredded cheese out of the fridge will sometimes get frozen if wrapped up really tightly against a frozen water bottle).

You can also use newspaper as extra insulation.

If you are buying a cooler, I second and third the Coleman Xtreme - fabulous coolers that really do last 4-5 days during summer camping trips. For a cheaper alternative, styrofoam coolers or folding cardboard coolers should also last just fine for 15 hours.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Dry ice works great, you can get it at most grocery stores. Stays super cold for a long time.

If using regular ice, sprinkle in some rock salt/ice cream salt as you pack the ice, will keep it frozen much longer.

"Prep" whatever cooler you end up using by throwing in a bag or two of "throw away" ice overnight before you plan to pack the cooler with real ice/product. If you start with a cold cooler, the ice you pack won't be wasted in simply cooling down what it touches right away.

Have fun!

 

[debster812]

As regular campers we have a variety of coolers we use. Any regular hard sider with 1" thick walls will easily do for 15 hours. Ice packs work fine, but an ice block will last much longer. The downside of block ice is that it melts and collects in the bottom, so everything gets wet.

Grew up sailing with my parents for extended trips (camping on the ocean!). I've also done this for weekend soccer tournaments. Fill empty gallon containers or 2L soda bottles, and freeze them (leave a little room for expansion). Then you have the upside of block ice, and the only 'extra' water is condensation, not all the meltwater.

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

Thank you for the suggestions! I will ise frozen water bottles and blue ice packs. I think i will get a hard sided cooler

 

[momto4girlz]

There is a product called "Cooler Shock" that you can get on Amazon. It gets really good reviews. Takes up less space than ice, and no water to drain.

 

[fla4fun]

We have a Coleman thermoelectric cooler that is great for long drives, not cheap but you may find one on Craigslist.

We have two of them. One is smaller and works like an arm rest with a couple drink holders on top. The other is the size of one of the in room refrigerators (in fact, we invested in it back when Disney didn't put fridges in the rooms and it sits upright like a fridge or lays down like a cooler). I have used them with an adapter in the office when the fridge in the lunchroom was not working. They are handy to have around. They work best if you plug them in at home with something inside so they can start cooling down before packing them. We would usually go ahead and put beverages in it and plug it in, and then it was all pre-chilled before pluging it in the car.

 

[scrapquitler]

Hi! We have a 15 hour drive to Orlando and we want to pack some cold items from home. Mainly fresh fruits and veggies (strawberries, grapes, carrots, peppers), some hardboiled eggs, and half n half. We have a medium sized soft cooler from Costco but it doesn't really keep things cold enough and 15 hours is a long time. Any recommendations on a cooler and also on what you use inside (ice in bags, some type of icepack things etc.) to keep things cold?

This is not for snacking on the trip, the stuff all needs to be cold 15 hours later when we arrive at resort.

Thanks in advance

Most of what you are bringing don't need COLD, cool will be good enough. When we used to camp when I was a child, my Mom would freeze half and half containers and milk containers full of water and put those in the cooler. If you didn't open the cooler (hard sided one) it would keep things frozen for days. So doing that would probably be plenty for keeping fruits and veggies fresh.

As for half and half, and eggs...it would be a lot easier to just buy them when you arrive closer to Orlando or in Orlando. Every gas station convenience store or grocery store will sell those, it's just easier.


That being said, We have a cooler that we bought years ago that plugs into the outlet in our car, maybe you could get something like that at a camping store. Something like these: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=cooler+car+plug

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

We are all set. Very happy w size of cooler I got. And have a good plan w ice packs/frozen water bottles.

Its funny some of you are so bothered that we want to bring half and half, coffee creamer and hard boiled eggs. After 15 hours on the road we are exhausted and have no desire to go shopping. I like my organic half and half, and my husband likes his hazelnut creamer (he likes 2 kinds and 1 is from Trader Joes and 1 can be found at Whole Foods and possibly but not always at regular grocery store). Gas stations dont have hard boiled eggs or the cream we use.

We are staying at the Swan so we want all our fruits and veggies washed and ready to go....so the kids can just eat them.

 

[elfof2moons]

We are all set. Very happy w size of cooler I got. And have a good plan w ice packs/frozen water bottles.

Its funny some of you are so bothered that we want to bring half and half, coffee creamer and hard boiled eggs. After 15 hours on the road we are exhausted and have no desire to go shopping. I like my organic half and half, and my husband likes his hazelnut creamer (he likes 2 kinds and 1 is from Trader Joes and 1 can be found at Whole Foods and possibly but not always at regular grocery store). Gas stations dont have hard boiled eggs or the cream we use.

We are staying at the Swan so we want all our fruits and veggies washed and ready to go....so the kids can just eat them.

"Trader Joes Hazelnut creamer" was all you needed to say. I totally understand. It is worth the hassle of a cooler! Sounds like you have everything under control. I was going to second the frozen water bottles. In fact when we go camping I freeze a gallon water jug to keep things cold and it gives us extra water to drink as it melts. have fun!